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I can hardly believe that it has been one year since I joined the Bren Mar Park school community! During this past year, it has been a pleasure to work among such dedicated staff and alongside so many committed families. Together, we have increased student access to advanced academic curriculums, increased communication through monthly and weekly newsletters, and welcomed a significantly increased parent engagement!
Now is the perfect time for us, especially me, to reflect on where Bren Mar Park was one year ago, celebrate all the positive achievements that have lead us to where we are now, and plan for the years to come. I ask for your support with this. Please provide feedback on the midyear Family Engagement survey located here.
In addition, this year the staff has been working diligently to revisit core values and beliefs about how we best help children in learning and achievement.
Revised Vision Statement:
"Bren Mar Park is a community of learners thriving in a diverse world.”
Revised Mission Statement:
We will be a community where all community members are valued and celebrated, love learning and strive for growth and excellence.
We will support all students thrive emotionally, socially, and academically to become productive citizens of the world.
We are excited to share our commitments to your children and the vision for how we might all be together as a school community!
Your Partner in Education,
Elizabeth Williams, Principal
Monday, March 2 - Favorite Author Day - Students and teachers bring in a favorite book by a favorite author to share with the class.
Wednesday, March 4 - Buddy Reading Day - Students have the opportunity to buddy read with others.
Thursday, March 5 - Guest Reader Day - Parents, specialists, and others are encouraged to volunteer to come and read to the class. The goal is to have at least one guest reader on this day per classroom. Please contact Parent Liaison, Sandra Chetelat, if you are interested!
Friday, March 6 - Read-In Day - Students (and teachers) are welcome to wear pj’s and bring a favorite stuffed animal to school. Throughout the day to drop, children will have the opportunity to participate in Drop Everything and Read.
The Bren Mar Park office hours will be different on March 3, 2020 due to the staff's participation in professional learning. The front office will be open from 10:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. The office will be closed to the public at other times.
This month's family market will take place on Thursday, March 5th at 4:30 p.m. There will be a cooking demonstration and tasty samples provided by the nutritional educator from the Capitol Area Food Bank. CAFB sponsors monthly markets at BMP to provide nutritional support with fresh produce and non-perishable food items for our families.
The Survey of Preschool Children forms have now been sent out to every family at Bren Mar Park. We are seeking to learn more about rising kindergarten students for the 2020-21 school year. If you have older children or younger, you can disregard the form. This information helps us ensure that we connect with families and invite them to register as well as to special events such as Kindergarten Orientation. Thank you for your cooperation with this!
The Virginia Board of Education allows certain elementary and middle school students who fail Standards of Learning (SOL) tests on their first attempt to retake the test before the end of the school year. Retesting is available before the end of the school year when a student failed his or her first test attempt by a narrow margin (score of 375-399, with a score of 400 needed to pass).
Parent permission is required for any retesting of the grade level tests listed below. If you believe that your child would benefit from receiving a second opportunity before the end of the school year to demonstrate his or her knowledge and skills on the SOL test, please complete the permission form sent home in your child's Thursday Folder and return it to you Bren Mar Park. A decision not to retest will not in anyway impact your child’s course grade or academic record.
This year there has been a strong focus on increasing opportunities for families to learn more about Digital Citizenship, especially with our grades 3, 4 and 5 students in having the opportunity to have a Bren Mar Park computer which parents can elect to have the child take home to ensure access for all students and support ongoing learning and skill practice at home.
At the beginning of the school year, we hosted a Digital Citizenship Night here at Bren Mar Park. There are a variety of other upcoming parent informational nights in which you might also be interested:.
- Wednesday, March 18, from 6:15 to 8:15 p.m., Kilmer Middle School hosts Supporting Students in a Digital World: Bridging Technology Use at Home and School
- Wednesday, March 18, from 6 to 8 p.m., South Lakes High School hosts Supporting Families in a Digital World: Developing a Healthy Relationship with Technology
- Tuesday, March 31, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Franklin Middle School hosts Spotlight on Student Learning with a Focus on Media Balance and Well-Being, sponsored by the Chantilly Pyramid
For more information, please see the FCPS News website.
As part of Fairfax County Public Schools' continuing efforts to maintain safe schools, a confidential and anonymous Tipline is available to students, parents, staff, and other members of the FCPS community.
Students' families, staff and community members can report school safety issues, such as threats, unsafe situations, vandalism and other concerns that may affect student wellness. Tipline users may identify themselves or remain anonymous. For more information, visit https://www.fcps.edu/tipline.
Your child is able to access over 90 different databases from the Bren Mar Park website. On the website, select ‘Library’ from the top teal-colored bar. Scroll down and choose the link for ‘Online Databases and EBooks’. These databases are for children in elementary school through high school and are online encyclopedias, places to find ebooks, and other sources for learning. Your child will need to provide a username and password if he or she is accessing this from home. Most databases use the username and password of fairfax/fairfax (all lowercase letters). The exceptions are MyON (use your child’s login username and personal password), Pebble Go (use fcps/fcps), and TumbleBook Cloud Junior (use fairfax2/login).
Bren Mar Park has great staff! FCPS Cares is an opportunity for parents and community members to help recognize FCPS employees for going above and beyond to help others and show they care. We encourage you to submit your positive story so we can acknowledge the good work of our Bren Mar Park employees. You can submit a positive comment here.
March 3 No School for Students - School Planning Day
March 5 Family Market, 4:30 p.m.
March 20 PTA Sponsored March Madness
March 25 Parent Coffee, 9:20 a.m.
March 31 Family Science Night, 6:00 p.m.
April 2 Family Market
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